Wednesday, 14 December 2016

This will probably be our last Blog of 2016, so we wanted to let you all know what has been happening.

The development of the Quoakle directory has had some delays due to Tim Coysh's other commitments, i.e, a new job which he started a few months ago, but he has been able to do some occasional work revamping the website. We still hope at some point in 2017 that the new and improved directory will be relaunched. We will keep you posted as to when that will be.

Tim Davis, of TCD Web Design, is still helping out with websites and has learnt a lot about coding and design. He still hopes to fly out to Australia in April of next year and will be out there for approximately 6 months.

Sean Cresswell is still doing what he can to help continually promote the Great Days Out directory via all the relevant Social Media networks and to contact the myriad of businesses in the UK which is on the database. It has been encouraging to see the majority of businesses keen to renew with us during this past year.

Nigel Steele is still masterfully juggling all the paper work in the office! He was able to recently affirm our commitment to providing our highly valued clients Greenfields Garden Services with an improved package. This means we will be able to continue to provide them with a top quality service and look after 20 websites and online promotions, as well as their Social Media needs. We look forward to a longstanding partnership with them.

And finally, Christmas is swiftly approaching as well as the New Year, and many will be going out buying the Christmas Turkey with all the trimmings! It is a lovely time of year when family and friends get together. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New Year!

Monday, 28 November 2016

The Great Days Out website has just gone through a few look changes. A brand new background image is now visible on the website, and the homepage has a great looking header image.

The new background image is the next stage of a rebranding exercise and a definite step up from the old background image. The new background image really brings out the page content. By taking the banner image from our twitter account and tiling it we were able to create a great looking website background.

Once the background image had been added we felt that the homepage needed something extra. We then had the idea of adding a great quality header image to it. After a few minutes spent deciding on an image to use. It was placed onto the homepage using php.

Friday, 25 November 2016

TCD Web Design is a Gloucestershire based website design company. Started in September, 2015 by Timothy Davis it aims to provide its customers with beautiful, simple to use websites at an affordable price.

Tim is and has been closely linked with Churcham Website Design and Quoakle.com, two parts of a creative media team based in Gloucestershire. Over the last couple of years, Tim has been involved with the setting up and preparation of several websites under the Quoakle.com umbrella and we are proud to introduce you to his brand new website! To see some of his work you can click here : http://tcdwebdesign.co.uk/portfolio.htmlTCD Web Design continually aims to provide affordable website design packages to it's customers at an affordable price. His aim is to put a customer's needs at the forefront of any project he undertakes.

Monday, 14 November 2016

So what is so special about the Great Days Out UK Directory? Well...… It’s quick and easy to use! … It’s easy to find on Google and Bing! … No reviews! … just quick access to the website of your choice! … No banner ads! Our mission is to connect our users quickly and easily with a great variety of days out activities and family attractions through a directory that is structured very simply – county by county.As a small, family-run company with a friendly approach, we look forward to working with “Days Out” businesses across the UK.

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Over the last couple of weeks we have been busy creating a new website where all of our Local Restaurant websites are promoted on one page!

For awhile we had them all displayed here : http://www.great-restaurants.co.uk/ and we will continue to do so as it falls nicely under our 'Great' website ethos, but we wanted to update it with a better, more modern looking website. So, we can now officially introduce you all to our latest project - Eat Unique!

Our concept has not changed. All we want to do is to help promote and celebrate independent restaurants in the South West and Central England. In the future there will be scope to expand this list but for now we are happy to kick this website off as it is. Go Eat Unique in the UK!

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

The Great Days Out team have been busy with our Instagram account, and have taken the bull by the horns so to say, with promoting our clients.

We had a skype call with a guy called Steven the other week, who works for a company called iMarvel and we were able to pick his brains about how best to use some of the various social media outlets out there on the internet. #Hashtags were mentioned, amongst other means and ways to acquire followers and 'likes' and since then we have started to implement some of his ideas.

Friday, 7 October 2016

Well things have been progressing well with the roll out of all of the additional webpages on the Great Days Out directory!

We can proudly say that all of the additional Categories are now live and functioning correctly on the website. It was quite a big task, but with Timothy Davis and Samuel Taylor's help, we were able to get them all up and running!

We have had a number of clients who have been renewing with us over the summer and on into the fall. Treasure Trails, Aerial Extreme and Rock UK, who are national companies, have been happy to stay with us for another year. Not forgetting of course the many smaller, family run sized businesses too! This has been a real encouragement to us as it has given us the opportunity to promote both large, medium and small companies alike!

We are still getting people contacting us from all over the country as well, asking about advertising with us. This has not been limited to a certain niche in Family Attractions either, but across all Categories ; from Water sports to Arts & Crafts! With these new webpages, we are able to give a more robust advertising package to all of our clients!

This means that there will be 12 Topic webpages which will cover the 12 Regions of the UK!

These latest URL's are still in the incubation period but will be unleashed on the unsuspecting Internet world very soon! Our hope is that we will see an increase in visitors to the directory as well as increasing our Google rating. This will also give existing clients the opportunity to have more advertising links on the website. All in all, a benefit to all concerned!

Monday, 12 September 2016

As promised form our previous blog, we have been continuing creating more webpages and content and wanted to let you all know what has been happening! We stated that we had just launched Animal and Wildlife Parks in the beginning of the month, well we have launched several other topics since then!

Friday, 2 September 2016

Over the last couple of weeks the brains behind Great Days Out have been busy looking at ways to improve the use-ability of the directory. It was felt that we needed more content but also more webpages.

You will be seeing some changes on the website, where we will be launching various topics on the directory. This will give visitors a more robust experience. We have already set up 'Animals and Wildlife Parks' and from there, we will be rolling out more topics - from 'Great Outdoors' to 'Historic Buildings'! It's quite exciting to see the website expand in size and content.

A few months ago we mentioned about changes to our Quoakle website too. Due to the size of the website, this will be taking a lot longer then expected. Added to this, Tim Coysh had started a new job in the beginning of the summer, so delays were inevitable. Regardless we will try to keep you all up-to-date on all of our latest news.

Finally, it looks like Tim Davis won't be going to Australia until April of next year. Fortunately for us, he will be around until then which we are truly grateful for! His assistance in these various projects have been invaluable. He will be missed when he goes to Oz.

Thursday, 18 August 2016

On September 16th (in little under a months time) Tim Davis of TCD Web Design, will be flying out to Sydney Australia to attend a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Sports DTS (Discipleship Training School).

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM, we unite in a common purpose to know God and to make Him known.

Thursday, 4 August 2016

Well an end of era had taken place on the 29th of July! Myself and a few others from the Forest of Dean area had been attending Charlotte Greenman's Client Creation Mastermind course on a fortnightly basis since April of this year. For all that were in attendance, it has been an excellent course!

We have appreciated Charlotte's insight and her easy approach in sharing her vast wealth of knowledge and we are grateful for her input. In every session something new was learnt!

We show business owners and sales professionals How to Generate Hot Leads and Easily Convert Them into Clients for Life to Ensure Repeat Business. We also help businesses convert more telephone conversations into qualified appointments, sales and loyal clients.

We wish her every success for the future! We could not recommend her highly enough!

Monday, 18 July 2016

Yes, the sun is out this week and just in time for the schools to close for the summer holidays! This is one of the nicest times of the year, where people are out and about enjoying the sunshine and relaxing. Of course, with this season, a lot of planning may need to be done to keep the kids occupied and entertained.

We at Great Days Out can offer families up and down the UK a great resource to help solve the issues to the question, 'What are we going to do this summer?'. The question should really be, 'Where do you want to go this summer?'

Visit our website and you will see just what the UK has to offer! Enjoy the warm weather (while it lasts!!) and don't forget the sun cream.

Wednesday, 6 July 2016

As we are now in the throes of #summer, have you thought about what to do? Well there are a lot of exciting things taking place over the next couple of months. To start with, why not have a look here : Great Days Out in Gloucestershire!

Taurus Crafts have a lot of activities taking place through the summer months. Outdoor adventure is almost unparalleled in Gloucestershire! SUP Gloucester is an exciting new venture started by Kev Brady. If you want to see the Shire in a whole new perspective they are worth contacting. Cattle Country has always been a mecca for families, Krazy Golf Lydney is situated very near to the Taurus Crafts Centre site and is a great place to unwind. For the more adventurous, why not try Rise Helicopters? Nature in Art is a fascinating place where nature and art collide. Bibury Trout Farm is always open to Groups, Schools and Coach parties throughout most of the year.Battlesports Gloucester is the closest you will get to being in a battle situation without going into battle for real! For those who enjoy the thrill of racing then JDR Karting is the place to be. Stroud Textile Trust has great facilities and walks for all the family to enjoy. Some of these businesses have been with us for a number of years now and they all offer great value for money. There are many more places to go too as well, so why not enjoy the summer holidays while you can!

Monday, 27 June 2016

It has been a couple of weeks since our last blog, this has been due to the fact that we have been contacting a lot of existing clients on our Great Days Out directory and have had their renewals come up. Thankfully most have decided to stay with us for another 12 months which has been fantastic for us of course!

However, we have even more great news! On the 8th of June, Sarah from Family Saver Card contacted us via our Days Out UK Twitter account and asked if they could work with us. Well we were instantly intrigued and after having several correspondences with the people behind the idea, we felt we could really help them with their SEO and promoting them on our directory!

To find out more about this amazing business, please click here : https://familysavercard.com/our-story/. We think they have a brilliant service and have a lot to offer families right across the UK! If you don't believe us then check them out for yourselves.

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Here in the Quoakle office, we have been using Instagram over the last few weeks as we were aware what potential there was promoting not just ourselves but also our clients. As it stands, there are over 300 millions users of this clever app and has an ever increasing number of people coming on board.

For those of you who may not be aware of Instagram, here is an excerpt taken from their own website...

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever. We're building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your friends' lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through photos.

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Last Friday, Nigel and Sean were able to attend Charlotte Greenman's Client Creation Mastermind course in Coleford,Gloucestershire. We have gotten to know her well and in times past had helped us with marketing and promoting Quoakle. We have found her approach to be incredibly friendly and laid back but also very informative and after just spending a couple of hours listening to her share about her knowledge and experiences in the marketing world makes you wonder how you ever managed without her!

If you are a business in Gloucestershire or further afield and are unsure on how to make the most out of your advertising on the internet, then we couldn't recommend her highly enough!

Here she is posing for the camera after last Friday's session. The photo below is the Great Days Out website being displayed on the large TV screen behind Charlotte.

Tuesday, 31 May 2016

We thought we would give you all a 'heads up' in to what we have been doing lately! We don't often get the chance to let people know about all of the websites that we have been working on, so we thought we would start by doing so with a couple that we had just recently finished.

Monday, 23 May 2016

TCD Web Design was created by Timothy Davis in September, 2015. Timothy has been working alongside the Quoakle team for a number of months now. He has been a valuable asset to our team as he has been on hand to help us revamp and create websites for our ever expanding clientèle!

The goal of his company is to provide its customers with beautiful, simple to use websites at an affordable price.

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

As his business was located just down the road, it was thought that we could help him with advertising his business. Since then, the Quoakle team have helped Chris create several websites as well as promoting his various businesses through Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media networks.

It has been a very fruitful partnership and we look forward to helping them get the most out of what the internet has to offer. In fact, we are currently revamping some of their websites as we speak as well as setting up yet another website!

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

We have also created a number of Great Days Out banners without our URL listed on them. We will be launching them out through our various Social Media platforms on a weekly basis.

The first one is our standard banner, then the rest are as follows : Animals, Family Attractions, Historic Buildings, Indoor Leisure and last but not least, Outdoor Leisure. You will be seeing these pop up on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds from time to time...

Tuesday, 26 April 2016

Last Friday, Sean went to Coleford in the Forest of Dean to attend a workshop held by Charlotte Greenman from Accredited Marketing Ltd.Below is a photo that Charlotte took of the class! It was great to network with others who are also looking at ways to improve their sales strategy. Many ideas were explored and business cards exchanged. The course runs every fortnight and will continue into the summer. Looking forward to the next session on the 6th of May!

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

We have been busy updating our banners for Great Days Out! As always, Stephen Holdstock has been busy in helping us to produce more eye catching ones. We decided that we needed to look at ways in how to better promote our services across social media. On our request, Stephen knocked up a few alternatives which are displayed below. We think these are great!

You may have noticed that each one of the banners above are slightly different to each other. The first one is our standard banner. The next one is the banner for Animals, then Family attractions, Historic buildings, Indoor leisure, and finally Outdoor adventure. Already we have started to place some of them on some of our Twitter and Facebook accounts!